ADDISON – When quality teams square off, a combination of a perfectly struck shot and a little bit of luck can be the deciding factors.

That formula was taken to the extreme Tuesday in Addison.

Peter Becht’s pinpoint aim on a free-kick with 13:12 left drew Downers Grove South into a 1-1 tie with host Addison Trail in the West Suburban Conference Gold Division showdown.

But just over five minutes later, that elusive intangible of luck played a deciding role.

A send to the box by Addison Trail’s Tom Kania deflected off the foot of a Mustang defender. With goalkeeper Parker Smith out to play the send, the unexpected and unimaginable deflection rolled 15 yards into the open net for the deciding score in a 2-1 Blazers’ win.

Call it miserable bad luck for Downers Grove South (9-4-4, 3-3-0) or an unexpected payoff for Addison Trail’s offensive pressure.

Either way, the strange play was the difference-maker for the Blazers (17-1-0, 5-1-0) that wrapped up their 13th-straight win and sole ownership of second place in the conference behind Morton.

Kania had earlier scored in the 14th minute to give the Blazers a 1-0 lead, then initiated the unlikely own goal.

“I was giving a pass to Jonny (Hernandez), and their guy just kicked it, and it basically went in,” Kania said. “The keeper came out and didn’t expect the guy to hit it, and it just went past him.”

Teammate Uriel Martinez’s midfield win of a 50/50 ball also played a role.

“I saw the ball coming, saw Tommy open, and headed it to Tommy,” Martinez said. “Tommy took a touch and tried to play it to Jonny, and luckily the ball got a deflection and went towards the goal.”

For Downers South, one freak bounce didn’t diminish its strong effort all night.

“It was just a little bit of miscommunication,” Becht said of the own goal. “We just mishit it, and it’s just unfortunate, nothing you can do. That’s the tough part of soccer.”

Downers South coach Jon Stapleton was both philosophical and praising of Addison Trail – particularly as he eyes the more important matches that begin with regionals next week.

“A little self-destruction in our end to give them one, but that’s the way the game goes sometimes,” Stapleton said.

“We’re not going to let this one game discourage us. They’re a good team obviously – a lot of credit to coach (Ryan) Dini and their team for only one loss on the year.

“Sometimes luck goes your way when you’re playing well, but also it’s a credit to them and the pressure they put on us,” Stapleton added. “We’ll take this as a learning experience and hopefully just have those mistakes today and not next week.”

Both teams were without key players for the match – Downers South dealt with the absence of both star striker Nick Rohl and defender Ian Wisniewski, while Addison Trail’s Enrique Luna (24 goals) was sidelined by a foot injury.

“The trainer thought it would be good to give him (Luna) a couple more days,” Dini said. “He’ll get some time Thursday and be ready for playoffs.

Said Kania: “Enrique has done a lot for the team – 24 goals in 17 games, and he’s going to back Thursday.”

Downers South also endured its injuries in Tuesday’s narrow setback.

“Nick is dealing with vertigo right now and is out for a week, and Ian Wisniewski has a groin pull and is out,” Stapleton said. “But I think we played well shorthanded.

“That’s why we’re a team – other guys stepped up and played well. Anthony Alcantara had some good minutes for us, Kenny Kruse started for us and played well in the first half, and Kai Petersen off the bench defensively – guys stepped up and did some good things.”

The best thing for the Mustangs came with 13:12 left.

After James David was fouled along the left sideline, Becht reinforced his reputation as one of the most dangerous restart players around.

Having lasered home a 30-yard free-kick goal earlier this year against top-ranked Morton (a 2-1 Downers South double overtime loss), Becht struck again from a very tough angle.

His 16-yard drive left of the box took a low bounce past running teammate Tom Wielgosz, and skipped just inside the far post for Becht’s 13th goal of the season.

“My main target was to put it right on the back post,” Becht said. “Hopefully somebody could flick it on or run right past it, and it would go right in.”

Wielgosz’s role in screening Addison Trail goalkeeper Jacob Grygo was a crucial element.

“A nice goal by Peter,” Stapleton said, “and I thought Tommy made a good decision to be a screen and let that one run. That (free-kick) was going to be dangerous and on frame.

“One of the things Peter does really well is put the ball on frame for us and give us a chance, and it was a good decision by Tommy to be a decoy and a screen and not take a touch. Tommy was enough of a distraction to make the keeper freeze for a second.”

Becht’s strike matched a nice first half finish by the Blazers.

After nice defensive plays in the first eight minutes by Downers South’s Jack Reeg and Max Schmidt-Bailey denied quality Blazer threats, Addison Trail solved the defense with 26:47 left in the first half.

Jason Solares’ cross from the right side connected with Kania, whose header inside the far post put Addison Trail up 1-0.

“I got a cross -- Jonny flicked it, and I was there by the back post, and I just put it in,” said Kania, whose strong play all night earned him Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors.

“I felt it built a lot of momentum for our team, and we just kept playing from there.”

Great Addison Trail chances continued.

In the 29th minute, goalkeeper Smith made a diving catch at the left post of Hernandez’s header off an Uriel Martinez cross.

Then 40 seconds before halftime, Kania dribbled in on left wing, recovered from an initial shot block and sent a second try that skimmed the crossbar and went over the net.

That Blazers’ pressure continued into the second half.

With 34:45 left, Hernandez fielded a Kania send on a right side run and angled a chip to the crease. But Downers South defender Luke Holzman made a great sliding block in front of Addison Trail’s Melvin Mora to deflect the ball over the end line and save a goal.

Holzman later had the tough-luck deflection that led to the own goal, but directly or indirectly thwarted Blazer threats all night.

Eduardo Gomez’s chip off the ensuing corner-kick was headed over the net by Kania, and Smith stopped a Hernandez end line shot with 32:40 left to maintain the 1-0 margin.

Addison Trail’s defense then made its mark.

Off Dylan Mobley’s offensive zone interception and cross to the box with 29:50 left, Wielgosz’s 15-yard drive was sent wide left. Then three minutes later, Juan Martinez nicely deflected a dangerous send to the box away from the Mustangs’ Garrett Burns at the 6-yard line.

“The defense has been a very big part of our year,” Kania said. “They’ve been super solid shutting teams down.”

In his second game back from a broken foot, Uriel Martinez’s presence has also been a huge addition.

“I really missed playing – it’s been two months since I fractured my foot,” Martinez said. “To share the field with your teammates, our senior class – we finished second in conference. We knew this would be a great team from the start, since we entered high school. I’m just happy to be back and part of a special team.”

For Dini, the play of Addison Trail’s midfield was a key factor in surviving the challenge of Downers South.

“Ruben Amaro in the middle, no. 10, played really well,” Dini said. “He’s been playing outside for us, middle – we kind of switch him around. He’s our utility guy. Tonight he played the most he has in the middle all year, and I thought he did a great job distributing.

“And then Uti Martinez – he’s just a weapon for us. We’re starting to see him in his old form, and that’s scary because he adds a different element that we’ve been missing all year.

“We’re still working him in and limiting his minutes, but he’s a competitor,” Dini added. “He brings his teammates up too, which is awesome to see.”

Martinez’s return helps solidify the one possible Achilles heel of the Blazers.

“I feel our midfield’s been up and down, forwards and defense have been strong,” Dini said. “The last couple games I’ve seen our midfield play better. If we can do that heading into regionals, I think we have a good chance.”

Downers South’s chances continued Tuesday, as a nice 30-yard dribbling run out of the defensive end by Jared Vosicky with 14:05 left foreshadowed Becht’s eventual tying score.

But Addison Trail’s retaking of the lead on the own goal was part of its aggressive finish.

With 4:30 to play, Kania was twice denied on point-blank chances. First, goalkeeper Smith blocked his near post header off a throw-in. Then on the rebound, Kania’s point-blank rebound was again blocked by the Mustangs’ sophomore goalkeeper.

Smith also blocked and controlled a 15-yard Victor Rodriguez shot with 2:20 to play.

Downers South’s last charge came with 1:40 left. A David send sprung Ian Bales in left. Mobley nicely controlled Bales’ cross to the front, but sent a shot wide right.

Addison Trail lost a would-be Hernandez goal off a Rodriguez pass with 52 seconds left due to an offsides call, but the Blazers had their 2-1 win, and a second place finish in the rugged WSC Gold to add to their breakout season.

“It means a lot,” Dini said. “We knew it was going to be a tight game. Our conference is loaded. Any of these teams we play, it’s a dogfight.

“We got tested. They put an equalizer in, but I liked the way our team responded. They didn’t panic. We had a lot of chances.

“It ended up being an own goal,” Dini added, “but credit to our guys for putting pressure on. Put on a lot of pressure and it’s bound to go in eventually. I’m proud of them.”

Senior Martinez not only worked to return from a preseason injury, but has been part of the Blazers’ four-year climb to elite status.

“When I came up as a freshman, I don’t think we had a winning record,” Martinez said. “As the years progressed we kept getting better, and this year we have a great record – our only loss was to Morton. Now we want to push forward to the playoffs and see how it goes there. Hopefully we can reach the final.

“We’re a diverse team – we all have our talents,” Martinez added. “We’ve all been playing for a long time so we all have our skill. We’re just a very solid team, and a special team.

“Coach (assistant Jim) Llorens preaches that offense wins games, defense wins championships. And we stand by that belief. We’ve preached defense since last year. Last year was a team full of juniors, and we use that experience in games like today.”

Downers South is another team capable of a big postseason. But Rohl’s return to health and other intangibles will be essential.

“We have a lot of athleticism and depth up-top,” Becht said. “But Nick definitely would have helped us tonight running through the back as he usually does. We did alright, but it was a little bit of an unfortunate result.

“And honestly I think we need a little bit better attitude during training sessions. If we pick up the intensity, come out and work hard, the postseason will look good for us. We have a lot of potential and depth. If we’re up for each game, we can go pretty far. I’m pretty excited to see how we do.”

Stapleton sees that potential, but also seeks more steady play.

“We’re still searching for the full 80 minutes,” Stapleton said. “We had some pieces missing tonight that certainly might have made a difference for us. But we worked hard to come back, and I’m proud of my kids there.

“We’re trying to find that consistency in all phases of the game. I think we’re talented enough to beat anybody. We just have to work on finding that for ourselves.

“We have to do some work in the back in terms of sticking with their marks and clearances,” Stapleton added. “That’s one of the areas we need to concentrate on, and sometimes that final ball in the final third – we have a good build-up of play, and then that final one escapes us.

“We need to get a little more technically clean with that. I’m sure every team would say that – it’s the same issues that plague everybody. But that’s where we’re at right now. Once we can find that, we have a chance.”

For the first time in a while, senior-dominated Addison Trail has its own taste of postseason high hopes. “It’s good to get back to that point,” Dini said. “Last year we were 12-7, this year we have a really good record. And I see it coming in our younger teams that we’re going to continue to be really competitive for a while now. We have a lot of seniors, but the future is bright.

“And this group is tough – I can’t wait for the playoffs. We’re getting healthy, the guys and the school are excited. We have one more (regular season game) with Hinsdale Central, and then it’s on.”